Textual Analysis Part 2: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Genre: Many things iconic to the old west are immediately seen. The first shot reveals the desert landscape, before a black-hatted cowboy comes into the frame. It then cuts to a town showing the distinctive old west buildings and wagons. The long drawn out shots are again present, including the iconic shot of a still landscape with a single thing moving in it; in this a dog, not tumbleweed, subverting the cliché. Two riders then appear the men on horseback again common of the western genre. There is no speech throughout the scene, and finally a saloon shootout. The freeze frame and identifying of a character is unusual, and not generic of a western.

Narrative: Like A Fistful of Dollars, there is a straightforward, linear narrative, which makes it easy for the viewer to follow and understand the scene in progress.

Location: The frontier town is clearly shown by the distinctive style of building, especially the saloon, which is instantly recognizable. This and the period costume mean the audience immediately knows the setting of the film.

Characters: There is a lot of enigma to the first scene, and it is unclear who is good and who is bad. The character introduced is named only as ‘The Ugly’ and there is no dialog, however his fleeing of the scene and body language suggests that he is an outlaw of some kind and the three men were bounty hunters or law enforcement. It is common for a western to follow outlaws rather than the law, so this fits with the genre.

Voice over: There is no voice over, which simply adds to the mystery of the scene.

Pacing: The scene is very slowly paced, with long shots and no music, building up tension as the men approach the saloon with caution. The pacing then speeds up as we hear gunshots and ‘the ugly’ smashes through the saloon window to make his getaway. The slow build up adds to the pay-off of the escape.

On-screen Graphics: ‘The ugly’ comes up on a freeze frame of one of the characters, indicating this is his nickname. The font is old style, cursive writing, adding to the setting, but is easy to read.

Editing & post production: Initially the scene fades in from black, slowly revealing the setting, but after that quick cuts are used, which adds to the realism and pace of the film, helping to build tension. The freeze frame is the first time music is used in the shot, which punctuates it and adds to bring the audience out of the action with the non-diegetic sound. No digital effects are used to create realism.

Music and sound effects: The lack of music builds a lot of tension, as the audience is focused directly on the scene at hand. It also adds a large amount of verisimilitude, grounding the scene in reality.

Camerawork: A combination of long shots and close ups establishes setting and space whilst also showing emotion and intent on the actors faces.